PetroChina Profit Rises; Sinopec Stumbles

HONG KONG—PetroChina Co., the largest listed Chinese oil company by capacity, posted a 5.8% increase in first-quarter net profit on Thursday, outperforming smaller rival China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., or Sinopec, whose earnings fell 35% in the quarter from a year earlier.

Sinopec, the largest refiner in Asia by capacity, imports nearly 80% of the oil its refineries need, leaving it vulnerable to the most recent quarter's sharply higher oil prices. PetroChina faced a relatively smaller impact, as it imports 30% of...